"Aurelia Cross? Why is she back instead of guarding her future foundation in Polaris?" Wu Ling thought over the current timeline. In his memory, aside from Tang San's Martial Soul awakening, nothing major should happen this year.
Wu Ling sensed briefly and found that Ghost was no longer nearby. He guessed that Ghost had gone to report to Bibi Dong, so he directly asked, "Old Li, has anything happened recently? Especially anything connected to the Polaris Empire?"
The steward followed behind Wu Ling and thought for a moment. Then he carefully caught up and whispered, "Young Master, I heard something. Only heard it, mind you. Something really did happen over in Polaris. It seems... one of the imperial princes had an accident."
Wu Ling's steps paused slightly. Then he continued walking toward the house as if nothing had happened.
"A Polaris imperial prince? Did the poisoning succeed, so she came back to create an alibi?" Wu Ling thought it over and quickly came up with one possibility. The truth was indeed close to what he guessed.
This generation of the Polaris imperial family had four princes and one princess. The eldest prince, Xue Qinghe, had been replaced by Aurelia Cross in childhood. After lying low for six years, Aurelia used slow poison to kill the second and third princes one after another.
That same year, Emperor Noctis sent Prince Sirius to investigate the matter. From various clues, Prince Sirius discovered that the two princes had died from the same poison. Alarmed, he realized that the person who benefited most from their deaths was the eldest prince, Xue Qinghe. But he had no evidence. So he went to the fourth prince, Xue Beng, and personally taught him how to stay alive.
From then on, Prince Sirius and Fourth Prince Xue Beng joined forces to pretend to be useless. One played the arrogant, incompetent prince. The other played the spoiled and domineering wastrel. They made Aurelia believe they were an incapable prince and a useless young noble who posed no threat to the throne, so she did not attack them. As for Princess Xue Ke, she was female and had no right of succession, so she did not interfere with Aurelia's plan either.
Afterward, because Aurelia had a clear alibi, she escaped Emperor Noctis's suspicion. Since only two heirs remained in the Polaris imperial family and Fourth Prince Xue Beng was still young, Emperor Noctis made Xue Qinghe the crown prince.
In the following years, Alistair Jewel, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and a supporter of the imperial family, would become Aurelia's teacher. She would gain the support of more and more ministers, and Emperor Noctis would trust her more deeply, handing more affairs to her. All of it was part of Spirit Hall's plan, or rather, Aurelia's plan.
Wu Ling did not know every detail, but from his god's-eye view, he could still guess the general situation. After crossing the courtyard, he arrived outside the room.
He pushed open the door. Sitting inside and drinking the flower tea Yue Guan had given him was a stunning young woman with skin as white as snow, a straight nose, slightly slender phoenix eyes, and a bearing that carried a touch of authority.
Wu Ling knew who she was, but the last time she had worn Xue Qinghe's appearance. This was indeed his first time seeing her true face, so he did not need to pretend. He simply looked her over with open curiosity.
Aurelia Cross sat in the chair, wearing a long golden palace dress. The dress seemed woven from golden thread. It had no excessive decorative patterns, only an old and elegant style. Its golden standing collar guarded her long, snow-white neck. Her long golden hair fell loosely behind her, forming a sharp contrast with her neat palace dress.
As Wu Ling studied Aurelia, Aurelia was also studying the young man her grandfather praised without end. In her eyes, Wu Ling had changed quite a lot over the past nearly two years.
Wu Ling's hair and pupils were both ordinary black. His slightly long, layered hair did not cover his brows. His three-dimensional features, paired with fair skin, gave first-time viewers a startling sense of beauty.
He was now a little over 170 cm tall. He wore a black T-shirt inside, a black coat edged with red outside, black pants, and black shoes with red accents.
Together with the influence of Vitrification, his expressionless face carried a cold, quiet, and aloof aura.
As he looked at Aurelia, Wu Ling casually sat in another chair, picked up a teacup, then reached out again and lifted the teapot from in front of her.
He said nothing. He only poured himself a cup of tea and began drinking as if no one else were there.
Sensing the unusual atmosphere in the room, Steward Li, who was very good at reading expressions, left on the excuse that he still had duties to handle.
After Steward Li left, Wu Ling drank another cup of tea. This time, before he could pour another, Aurelia spoke first.
"You do not seem surprised."
Wu Ling did not answer immediately. Only after pouring another cup did he say, "As my steward, Old Li is not an ordinary person. In Spirit City, the only young lady surnamed Cross he would let in so casually is probably someone from Grandpa Lucius's line."
Since Wu Ling had already stated her identity, Aurelia did not bother hiding it. She directly gave her name.
"Aurelia Cross."
"Wu Ling."
"..."
"..."
Seeing that Wu Ling had no intention of speaking first, Aurelia asked again, "I heard from my grandfather that you went to acquire your fourth Spirit Ring this time."
"I was lucky enough to run into a compatible Soul Beast. Nothing worth mentioning."
After seeing Wu Ling admit it, Aurelia became certain of one thing. This fellow had definitely concealed things when he spoke to Xue Qinghe back in the Polaris Empire.
"I heard your Martial Soul is support-type?"
"Right, right. My Martial Soul cannot possess me like a Beast Martial Soul, and it cannot be used to cut people like a Tool Martial Soul. Its only use is to enhance my physical ability and let me know a bit of swordsmanship. So I suppose it counts as a support-type Martial Soul."
What? Wu Ling had once said he was not support-type? Regarding that, Wu Ling's thought was simple: he had been too young back then.
Aurelia did not react at first. After Wu Ling finished speaking, she froze for several seconds before finally catching the key phrase. "Enhance yourself?"
Facing Aurelia's exclamation, Wu Ling remained calm and waved a hand. "Basic operation. Just basic operation. Nothing worth talking about."
"What basic operation? For all these years, how many people have been limited by the fact that support-type Spirit Masters cannot support themselves? How did you just say it so casually?"
After thinking for a moment, Aurelia asked again, "If you enhance yourself, then you are not as helpless as other support-types, are you?"
Wu Ling nodded. "Of course. A true support can wipe out the enemy alone. Then the teammates win easily. Is that not better than those ordinary supports?"
Even Aurelia did not know what to say after hearing Wu Ling's definition of a support-type Spirit Master. Only after a long while, when Wu Ling had poured himself yet another cup of tea, did she say, "Then, Wu Ling, are you interested in sparring with me?"